Risk and resilience in adjustment to sickle cell disease: integrating focus groups, case reviews, and quantitative...

Case reviews and focus groups were used to develop clinical profiles of poorly adjusted and psychologically resilient children with sickle cell anemia. The convergence of these clinical profiles with quantitative data was examined by drawing upon objective information in the case records derived from physical and structured psychosocial assessments. Regression analyses were used to test the predictors of psychological, academic, and social adjustment identified in the clinical discourse. The results provide a basis for speculating about the process of adjustment to illness and the value of a family approach to psychosocial intervention.